12 uses for old book pages

09/23/2012

Fall is my very favorite season and I have asked a few of my favorite bloggers to share some of their fall favorites here with you. I am so excited to haveMichael Wurm, Jr. from Inspired by Charm heresharing 12 FABULOUS Halloween Crafts using pages from old books as part of The Idea Room Fall Festival!

Hello, Everyone! Michael here from Inspired by Charm. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here today. I’m a huge fan of Amy and The Idea Room. Her Fall Festival is the bomb, and I’m thrilled to be one of the festival bloggers.

Today I have twelve mini-projects to share with you. Yep, twelve! Old books and old book pages are popping up everywhere in blogland and the craft world. So I decided to take this idea and give it a festive twist.

To get started, I picked up a couple old books at a local thrift shop. (Book lovers, cover your eyes.) I tore out a few pages from the books and then grabbed my laptop. I hit up one of my favorite clip art galleries, The Graphics Fairy, and downloaded all the Halloween-related images.

Using two small pieces of double stick tape, I attached one book page to the center of a piece of standard card stock.

Using the word processing program on my computer, I selected one of the clip art images and printed it on the book page taped to the card stock.

Simple as that! I repeated those steps for all my images. With a stack of embellished book pages in hand, I started to get crafty. Let’s get going!

No. 1: Place Cards

Just add a name in your word processor before printing your page (or write it in later) and then cut to fit. I guess this means Amy is officially invited for dinner!

No. 2: Vase Update

I have this great rectangular vase that was begging to be jazzed up. I just cut around the printed image and attached it to the vase with double stick tape.

No. 3: Wall Décor Accent

I have a display of plates and mirrors in my dinning room. I simply tucked in a few of the book pages for a spooky new look! This could be done to anything hanging, be it a frame, mirror, or other wall decoration.

No. 4: Decorative Jar Candle

Have a simple looking candle? Wrap it with an embellished book page. After cutting out the image, I attached it with double stick tape.

No. 5: Vintage Wreath

This one is a piece of cake. Just tuck a printed page into your favorite wreath for an instant vintage touch.

No. 6: Put a Cloche on It!

Slide a mini-pumpkin and one of the pages under a cloche. Anything under a cloche always looks special and important.

No. 7: Candlestick Wrap

Trim the page so there is just enough to wrap around the candle. I used double stick tape to affix the page. Being tall and skinny, the skeleton key graphic worked perfectly. Use caution if you do decide to light these as old paper and flames don’t really go well together.

No. 8. Jazz up Your Jam

I thought the paper would rip on this one, but it couldn’t have worked better! Cut a square out of your paper with your image centered. Place it on top of your jar lid and screw on the top. I then added a fun label to make the presentation even more special. In case you were wondering, that’s peach jam.

No. 9: Art Swap

This is another easy one. Swap out a piece of artwork for one of the pages, or add it on top of a piece of artwork that may be a little larger than the printed page.

No. 10: Specimen Jars

These vintage mason jars are always coming in handy for me. After I printed the orange and black butterflies, I trimmed the pages to size and tucked them into the jars. These would look great all year long!

No. 11: Boring to Bold

It’s all in the details! Take a boring glass of striped drinking straws over-the-top by sliding in a page printed with skeletons. It doesn’t get any easier than this!

No. 12: Goodie Bags

Last but not least, turn an old book page into a fun label for treats. I folded my page in half at the top of the label and cut it out, making sure not to cut the fold. Again, using double stick tape on both sides of the interior of my label, I attached it to a bag full of yummy pumpkin kisses.

That’s it! Simple, but totally fabulous and unexpected. It really is all about the details. I hope you can use some of these ideas for your Halloween and fall decorating. What other ideas do you have for embellished book pages?

Thanks again to Amy for having me here! It was an absolute joy sharing my ideas in The Idea Room!

Thank you so much Michael! You can bet I am coming to your party. Thanks for setting a place for me at the table! If you have not stopped over to Michael’s site you really need to. He has some amazing recipes and all sorts of fun things he shares. You will not be sorry! –Amy

About Amy

Amy Huntley is the owner/author of The Idea Room. A mother of five, who enjoys sharing her love of all things creative in hopes of inspiring other women and families. Connect with her on Google+, or read more of her posts.

WIsh I had some new words to use. but love your ideas!! I do have a question though, what type of printer did you use. I have read many blogs on doing this, and they recommend the printer that feeds through the back. My printer the paper has to come from the bottom and go up and around to be printed on. I have been told it will really jam if I try it. Help does anyone know. I am afraid to use my printer, as I can’t afford a new one. thanks

Hi Sheryl – thanks for your sweet comments. My printer feeds both from the back and bottom. I actually feed the paper from the bottom tray and it worked fine for me. I lost the book page once or twice when the tape lost it’s stickiness, but it didn’t hurt my printer in any way.

Sheryl,
I completely understand the worry over the printer. We are currently without a printer because of the carrage freezing up. And it was only 2 years old but HP tends to have these problems, we’ve since learned, and only last through x amount of prints. Well, enough of my problems. On to yours. One thing you could do is copy the book page using the top copier and THEN send that sheet through the printer with the graphic. That way you are not putting two layers or tape into the printer. And to make your page look official and old, a little of the brown silk flower spray paint on the edges does the trick every time. I’ve even been known to torch the edges. No, not a pyromaniac, just a crafter. Hope this helps. Hope I get a new printer soon.

Michael,
I’m sure your sick of us telling you we love you……………..well, maybe not. Who would get sick of that? Not me. Anyway, another set of great ideas. The paper under the cloche..too cute. Inspired by Charm+Graphic Fairy+The Idea Room= Brilliant.

Oooooh la la… I am so excited. Well, yes because of the ideas (I especially love the butterflies in the jars) but am thrilled with the cardstock bit. I have printed quite a few images on old book paper but have to try and wrangle my printer to printing on the actual paper. Small pages are a problem and they always jammed when taped to regular paper. But cardstock…. now that just may be the ticket! Thanks for these Michael!

Hi IBC!
OMG! This is truly a DIY project that this VERY uncrafty person can do and even has most of the tools and items around the house!!!
Now I just need to find some old books (like I ever need a reason to go vintage shopping;)
Thanks for the comments about the printer…would never even thought of that front/back feeder!
I will send pics of my IBC inspired projects when done!!!
Thanks again for always making it look so easy and classy!

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